IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is an emerging system where digital television and multimedia services are delivered to set-top boxes present in a home environment using IP over a network infrastructure. Already today, IPTV enables a more customized and interactive user experience amongst other by providing viewers with greater control over their television viewing. Today, IPTV is most often associated with Video on Demand (VoD) and live TV services. However, IPTV can also provide Internet services, such as web access and Voice over IP (VoIP). Another feature of IPTV is the opportunity for integration and convergence with other multimedia services for example chats and different messaging services allowing IPTV users to communicate with each other.
The enhanced functionality and customized/interactive user experience are provided by IPTV-related applications through set-top boxes. Some examples of IPTV-related applications are audio player, Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and Local Personal Recorder (IPVR) applications. Such IPTV-related applications may be pre-loaded on the set-top box, may be downloaded to the set-top box after installation or, alternatively may be stored on a remote server remote in communication with the set-top box over a network.
Generally, specific IPTV-related applications are invoked and events are instantiated at the set-top box when certain conditions are met. The certain condition to be met may take many different forms. For example, the certain condition for a specific IPTV-related application may be based on a button on a remote control being pressed, on a selection being made by the user in a menu displayed by the set-top box on the display (television) screen, on a date and/or time of day, on a channel selection made by the user and/or on information provided as part of the television content (or video stream). Generally, the set-top box will store information specifying the IPTV-related applications available at the set-top box in association with the condition to be met for launching each IPTV-related application.
In recent years, in light of the increase in interest in IPTV and the potential that it represents, different tools have been designed in order to facilitate the developments of customized IPTV-related applications. One such tool is the Microsoft Media Room™ infrastructure (available from Microsoft Corporation), which allows network operators and application providers to create additional interactions with the viewer. Although the purpose of such additional interactions is to enhance the viewer's experience, the increase in the number of interactions sometimes causes issues such as conflicting conditions for launching an applications and/or resource overload, and thus increasing the number of additional interactions can ultimately end up degrading the viewer's experience rather than enhancing such experience. Existing techniques fail to provide suitable solutions for addressing such issues.
In light of the above, there is a need to provide an improved technology-based solution for allowing additional viewer interactions to be introduced as part of an IPTV service offering that alleviates at least in part the deficiencies of the existing systems.